by Erin Grace
She gasped and took a step back.
‘Regardless of our past, I would never lie to you, Gabriel. As it turns out, Mrs Godfrey later discovered all sorts of items tucked away in Miss Bowden’s room. Naturally, at first Mama wanted the girl arrested for her crimes, then decided it best not to, knowing how much his lordship despises scandal.’
‘And who decided that your mother should make such a decision? Where was my father?’
‘I’m not certain. It was all hushed up very quickly. All I do know is that Mrs Godfrey had dismissed the girl at once without wages. I’m sorry, Gabriel. I didn’t tell you this to hurt you, but I suspect you have some feelings for this woman and felt you should know who she really is.’
He pushed back the covers, ignoring the fact he was dressed in a long shirt and little else. Grunting as his sore muscles were put into use, he moved his legs to the side of the bed and waited for his balance to return. ‘My feelings, few as they are, are none of your affair, madam.’
‘I see.’ Her eyes misted over as she nodded and left his bedside. ‘Then, perhaps that knowledge helps to make what I have to say to you just that little bit easier.’
His brow furrowed.
‘Gabriel, I’m not with child.’
A hot ripple of sensation, half relief, half disappointment, ran the course of his body at her announcement. Though he no longer cared for Cecily, he would have welcomed the child of his late brother. But now that chance was gone.
‘Are you certain?’
‘Quite.’ She turned and approached his sideboard. ‘Now, if you don’t mind, I think I shall have some of your cognac. Don’t get up, I’ll help myself.’ She reached for a glass, splashed a little of the liquor into it and sighed.
Was she really telling him the truth? He’d been so deceived in the past, and found it difficult to believe her. Though, he couldn’t stop a small part of him feeling sad on her behalf.
‘I am sorry, Cecily. Your mama will be less than pleased when she finds out.’
‘To hell with Mama. She has caused enough complications in my life.’ She sipped on the brandy, mustered a stiff smile and rested her backside against the sideboard.
He stretched his neck then flexed his hands. ‘Are you deeply upset with the news?’
She touched her stomach softly and sighed. ‘In some ways, at first. But I suspect Nature knew I’m hardly mother material. Besides, if there had been a child, my marrying you would have utterly destroyed what little friendship we have left, and we would have both been miserable. Or perhaps more miserable than we already are.’ She raised her glass to him in salute then drank the remains of her brandy.
‘Cecily, despite our past, you know I would have stood by you and Henry’s baby.’
She laughed, but her eyes glistened. ‘Oh, please don’t try to be noble. Not now. It wasn’t as if Henry ever loved me. And, I know what you’re thinking, but I’m not a complete fool. A child at least would have been something I could have loved and had love me back.’ She placed down her glass on the table, reached into her reticule and removed a small bundle of what appeared to be letters. ‘I was nothing more to him than a shiny bauble, a new toy that you had, and he desperately wanted.’
Guilt pricked his conscience. ‘I should have fought harder for you.’
She shook her head and slowly walked toward the bed. ‘No. You had risked everything for me, and I turned you away. I was undeserving of your love and allowed myself to be lead. For that I have no one to blame but myself. When I pushed your affection aside for your brother and everything he offered, I gave away my right to your heart forever. And, for what it’s worth, I’m sorry.’
His heart suddenly ached, not with hate but the urge to let go some of the pain it held inside, and it took his breath away. He gazed into her eyes and saw the reflection of his own tortured soul. They had both been to hell, they had merely walked different paths getting there. ‘Well. For what it’s worth, I forgive you.’
Her shoulders sagged a little, as if a tremendous weight had been lifted from them. ‘Thank you, Gabriel. Hearing that from you means so much to me.’ She reached out, gently took his hand and pressed the pile of papers into his palm.
‘And now that I am no longer attached to Henry in any way, I feel it best for me to leave Etford Park, don’t you? The weather is too harsh to go all the way to London, so I’m leaving for Lord Petherbridges estate in the morning with Mama. Please don’t think poorly of me, Gabriel. I wish you every happiness, I really do. All I ask is that you find someone worthy of you.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Need I be more explicit? Very well. I’m not blind. You have developed more than a mere tendre for Miss Bowden. I think you in love with her.’
He bristled at the notion. ‘I told you, my affairs are none of your concern.’
‘Deny it if you wish. I still care for you as a friend, and I am only looking out for your welfare. The girl and her thieving family are beneath the heir to Etford. Find someone with proper breeding, with money and position, someone who will make you an acceptable wife.’
A wry smile curled his lips. ‘I already tried that once.’ He picked up her hand, raised it to his lips and lightly kissed it before letting it go. ‘Good bye, Cecily.’
Chapter 19
Alice Peel sat at the kitchen table, a frown where her smile should be. She was rarely sad for very long. Her mother had always taught her that life was too brief to dwell on misery. Not easy for some perhaps, but she’d had a hard life and it was that conviction alone that had seen her through some terrible times.
When Mr Peel passed away, she’d only been a young girl - wed just two years. She’d never found out what had killed her beloved Thomas. She’d merely woken up one morning to find his body lying next to hers, cold and lifeless.
She never did marry again. Oh, not that she didn’t want for company at times, but Tom had been her love and carrying his name made her happy.
‘Are ye all right, lass?’
Lost deep in her thoughts, she hadn’t heard Donald come into the kitchen. She picked up her cup, sipped some tea then cleared her throat. ‘I still don’t believe Lily would steal from the captain.’
It had been two days since Mrs Godfrey has dismissed Lily from service on the grounds she’d stolen from the house. Ridiculous! Yet, the poor girl didn’t deny the claim. In fact, she’d said nothing at all in her own defense.
Mrs Godfrey had told them later that Lady Stanton had insisted that as the item had been recovered there would be no reason to report Lily as a thief. Better to keep the matter quiet to save his lordship any scandal.
Maybe so, but the whole matter didn’t sit well with her at all.
He pulled out a chair and sat down opposite her. ‘Aye. I dinna believe it myself. But, why would Polly lie about such a thing? And, Lady Stanton had been there as well.’
‘Are you saying you believe that uppity woman who wouldn’t know a smile if it bit her on her aristocratic backside?’ Riled, she stood from the table and crossed her arms.
‘Lady Stanton? Of course not. Come now, dinna worry yourself, lass. I’m just thinking out loud.’
‘Well you can just stuff those thoughts back into your foolish head.’
‘Alice. Think about it. According to Mrs Godfrey, they had both caught Lily alone in the Rose room with the thimble in her hand.’
She shook her head, signed and slowly sat back down. ‘I know. But what if she was putting it back?’
‘Putting it back?’ He ran a hand through his hair and sighed. ‘But, if that were true, why had it gone missing in the first place? All the servants know Lady Etford’s belongings were to never be touched. If she had need of a thimble, there are plenty in the workroom. Why didn’t Lily say a word, when she was given the chance to explain?’
‘I wish I knew. Lord, I wish I knew.’
He scratched his forehead and met her eye. ‘There’s one other thing. Lester claims Lily had taken something from the carri
age the night Captain Holsworthy was brought in ill.’
Gob-smacked, anger rose in the pit of her belly for the first time since, since she couldn’t recall. ‘Lester? The very same man who threatened the poor girl harm on her first day here? As if he’d be a reliable source. You yourself know there’s something not right about the man. The way he stares at a woman. Give me the willies, it does. He’s got the devil in him, make no mistake. Besides, whatever it was he claims Lily stole, he probably took it for himself and found someone else to take the blame.’
Donald took a tiny object from his pocket, held it for a moment in his palm then returned it. ‘Aye, lass. You’re probably right.’
‘Of course, I’m right. And I don’t want to hear anything more about that wretched man. Lily is innocent and that’s all there is to it.’
He’d wanted to tell Alice about the ring, but the distress in the sweet lass’s eyes told him she didn’t need any more heartache today.
It seems Polly had given Lester the captain’s family ring to return. She’d claimed to have found it whilst cleaning Lily’s dress the morning after the carriage incident.
At first, he’d insisted Lester return it himself, but the man refused to handle it as he felt he would be blamed for its theft and that the ‘stupid girl’ should be punished.
Lester was nothing but a bloody coward.
He stood, approached his dear friend and gave her a gentle hug. ‘I’m sure the truth will be found out, love.’
Alice rested her head upon his chest and let out a deep sigh. ‘I hope so, Donald. I do hope so.’
He released his hold as the back door opened and Polly came in from the snow, her arms struggling with an enormous basket of vegetables and goods from the village.
‘Come on, Alice. Give us a hand, won’t you? These things are so heavy. Hope his lordship is happy with those parsnips. Getting harder to get quality produce now. Too bloody cold. Though, I think we have bottled more than enough preserves to get us by if the weather should worsen.’ The woman paused and looked up. ‘What’s the matter? You never frown? Are you feeling all right?’
‘I’ll take that for you.’ He grasped the basket handle, lifted it and placed the vegetables upon the kitchen table. ‘I had better leave you ladies to it. I’m sure you both have much to do before tomorrow. Hard to imagine though, that his lordship had agreed to host a Christmas dance at Etford.’
‘I know. But isn’t it exciting?’ Polly beamed, her eyes glittering with an odd kind of anticipation.
‘Exciting is not the word I’d use at the moment.’ Alice shook her head at the girl.
Polly grimaced. ‘Good heavens, Alice. You were the one always wishing that his lordship would hold another one of his famous parties. For years, since I’d started working here, you have mentioned little else. I thought you of all people would be pleased.’
‘I would be. I mean, I am. But I don’t think it was all his lordships’ idea. That busybody, Henrietta Talbot has been in his ear, you mark my words. Came here early this morning, the vicar trailing along behind her. Lucky for her, his lordship is an early riser. The cheek of it all. Then, as grand as you please, she sat in the Green Room grinning like a cat who’d got the mouse.’
He rested his back against the kitchen door. ‘But, why would his lordship hold a party just to please that silly woman?’
‘Well, from what I understand, Mrs Talbot made a huge fuss over the effort her husband and their congregation had done in praying for the captain’s swift recovery. Then she hinted quite heavily that now the captain is indeed well, by holding the Christmas dance at Etford Park, his lordship would be generously bestowing his thanks to the church. How could the man say no?’
Polly brushed away Alice’s comments with a flick of her hand. ‘I still think it’s a wonderful idea. Imagine. Music. Dancing. Pretty gowns.’
Alice rolled her eyes. ‘And you’ll be in the kitchen with me. Cooking. Cleaning. Scrubbing pots.’
Polly frowned then her smile returned. ‘Well, whatever you say, I think it’s almost like one of those Christmas miracles I read about in the gazette. You know, they print those short stories and something wonderful always in them this time of year. People should get what they’ve always hoped for, don’t you think? In any case, I haven’t helped with such a grand function before. Mrs Godfrey said we will be getting at least a dozen servants to help out.’
Alice raised an eyebrow and began sorting through the various root vegetables in the basket. ‘And just where did his lordship intend to get help so close to Christmas? The roads to London will be two feet under snow by now.’
Polly shrugged lightly. ‘Lester said that Lord Kingston’s housekeeper was pleased to loan us some of their staff, as his lordship was in Spain for the winter.’
Alice sighed and wiped her forehead with the back of her hand. ‘Well then, I suppose we’d better get organized then. We’ve got a lot of baking to do.’
Alice glanced up at him and he did his best to give her a reassuring smile before he opened the door and walked out into the freezing afternoon.
He didn’t know what was going on, but instinct told him something just wasn’t right.
‘Another caked burnt?’ Henrietta prodded the singed fruit cake with the tip of her finger and grimaced. ‘I know what you are playing at, my girl and I will not stand for it.’
Lily wiped sticky cake batter from her hand and surveyed the damage. The vicarage kitchen resembled a battle zone, the casualties all lined up along the side board.
So far, she managed to burn three fruit cakes, put salt into the jam tarts instead of sugar and her gingerbread was so hard it could be used instead of a brush to scrub the kitchen floor.
But she didn’t care.
Most times, despite her lack of talent, she’d at least attempt to try her best, but her heart simply wasn’t in it. No. Her heart had also been burnt, the ashes scattered to the wind.
Since her dismissal from Etford Park, her aunt had wasted little time in having her ensconced in the kitchen making up for ‘lost time’.
‘I didn’t intend to ruin it, aunt. The oven seems to bake much hotter at the back, and there’s not much room…’
‘Always excuses. I suppose we can just trim off the offending side and hope no one notices. Actually, mark that one for Mrs Henry. The dear has bad eyesight and won’t be able to tell…’
Until the poor woman takes a bite.
‘…Now, do get those mince pies done soon, as I would like to take a tray to the Christmas dance tomorrow night. Oh, did I mention that Lord Etford has graciously offered to host the dance this year instead of Mr Wetherby?’
‘He has?’ The woman had to be lying. Either that or she’d been drinking Uncle Linus’s sherry again. Lord Etford detested Christmas.
Henrietta gave her broadest grin, clearly unable to contain herself of the incredible news. ‘In truth, I wasn’t quite certain he would, but when your uncle and I paid a visit to the manor to check on the captain this morning I mentioned how wonderful it would be to celebrate the captain’s good health with a dance.’
Her heart leapt. ‘The captain is well?’
‘Indeed. And I’m certain our parish prayers played a large part in it. I mentioned this to his lordship in passing, and he felt the dance a fitting way to thank the townsfolk for their heartfelt concern.’
She slumped onto a chair, closed her eyes and let out a deep sigh of relief. Gabriel was alive and well. Thank the heavens. After the incident in the Rose room, she’d been dismissed immediately and hadn’t the opportunity to check on him one last time.
But, she’d no right calling him Gabriel anymore. Now, he was the ‘captain’ again.
‘Honestly, girl. This is no time to sleep. Get up. There is much to be done.’ Henrietta turned to leave but paused. ‘You are aware naturally, that your presence at Etford Park for the dance will not be required…given the circumstances.’
She nodded and swallowed hard.
Whe
n she’d arrived back at the vicarage last night, bag in hand, she hadn’t quite known what to expect from Henrietta. For the longest time she’d stood there silent, whilst Henrietta sat in her armchair by the fire, reading a long letter from Mrs Godfrey. After which, the woman had merely sighed.
She’d almost fainted just from the anticipation of her aunt’s tirade. But none had come. Despite the fact it had been her aunt who had ‘gifted’ poor mama the wretched thimble in the first place, Henrietta would have had ample opportunity to blame its theft on her somehow.
But, she hadn’t. Just why, left her curious and quite uneasy.
There had been little point in trying to explain the situation to Mrs Godfrey, considering Polly had discovered her with the thimble in hand. Besides, if she had tried to accuse her aunt, who would have believed her? A vicar’s wife, a pillar of the Speckles Wood community, stealing? Hardly.
She stood up and tried to decide which recipe would be her next victim, when a knock at the back door took her attention. Well, the mince pies had been spared. At least for a short while.
She approached the door, peered through the window and smiled. ‘Annabelle.’ She unlatched the bolt and opened the door. ‘Goodness. Come in. It’s freezing out there. What are you doing here?’
Her friend hurried inside, her long red velvet cloak swishing around the door sending a flurry of white snowflakes floating to the floor. Within her grasp she held a big brown box tied up with string. ‘It’s snowing dreadfully, isn’t it? My brothers didn’t want me to go outside. But, honestly, we live but one house away from the vicarage. And, as for what I’m doing here, I simply had to see you.’
‘I admit I am happy to see you too. I’ve got a few things to tell you.’
‘Me first.’ Annabelle undid her lovely red woolen bonnet then paused and sniffed the air. ‘Is something burning?’
She sighed and tried not to laugh. ‘I’ve been baking.’
‘Ah. Say no more.’ Her friend grinned and handed her the parcel. ‘Go on, open it. Merry Christmas.’
